Off World War
by sailor shadowstar
Summary: hehe. this is the re-edited version of oww. please review.
1. Author's Notes

OFFWORLD WAR  
  
By Sailor Shadowstar  
  
Author's note: I don't own the rights to the Ronins or Scouts or Starlights- if I did, I'd be rich. However, I own all rights to this story and the characters Kieren Hiroke, and the Ronin of Heaven and Sailors Heaven and Star. Please e-mail me for permission to use any part of this story, or any of the characters I own.  
  
Review please; I need your feedback to make this good. Also, ideas on who gets paired with who- just three rules: no Darien/Usagi, no elemental match ups- i.e., no Mako/Sage, etc.-, and pairs must be in the same age group- i.e., Outers and Warlords, Inners and Ronins; however, there is one exception: the Seiya/Usagi pair.  
  
This is actually version two of Offworld War. I read through the first and found that it needed a major overhaul. If you want to see the first one (although why anyone would want baffles me) email me for it, or go to www.angelfire.com/sc2/SailorSenshi/Crossovers.html to see it, and look under lady halcyon.  
  
This story takes place one year after the Ronins defeated Talpa, and after the Scouts have come back from the battle with Chaos. The Ronins have fought beside the Scouts in the past, so they know each other professionally. Also, no one knows that Kieren is the Ronin of Heaven and Sailor Star- the most powerful warrior for both groups.  
  
  
  
Here's some info on Kieren:  
  
Kieren Hiroke is a priestess and a vet. She is an only child. Her mother died when she was a baby, and her father died when she was seven. Her grandfather, an elderly priest of an ancient religion, raised her. She is the tallest of both groups- 6'10''. She has golden eyes, and long dark blue hair that she keeps braided. She lives in the outskirts of Tokyo with Mia and the Ronins- Mia's house was destroyed by a severe hurricane and is in the process of being rebuilt. The Warlords moved in with her after Talpa's defeat and are teaching self-defense classes there.  
  
Kieren has many special abilities that will be explained throughout the story. She also has a star shaped crystal that she can use for a variety of purposes. She is also Lady Halcyon, the last member of a very powerful family. The Ancient trained her before she was reborn during the 20th century (the present). 


	2. Prologue

Prologue  
  
I was standing in a field of dead flowers. I looked around to see if anything might be alive, but all the plants and animals I saw were dead or dying. I walked towards a forest I saw in the distance, thinking that it might still have some life in it, but when I got there, all I saw was more death. I wondered if anything was still alive.  
  
"How can this be?" I murmured, as I continued walking through the dead forest. "What could have caused this?"  
  
"This is what will happen to my world and yours, if you don't stop it," a voice said from behind me. I turned to face a veiled figure. She- it appeared to be a young woman- came towards me, stopping a few feet away and faced the forest. "This is caused by a great evil that takes pleasure in draining the life from a planet and using its inhabitants as its slaves."  
  
"What do you mean, if I don't stop it?" I asked, shocked by what she was saying. How could something be that evil?  
  
"Only you and your friends have the power to stop this evil," she said, staring at the forest. She looked at me and I saw that her eyes hid great pain. "It will be here soon. You must help me protect the people."  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused. "What's going on? Is this a joke? Who are you?"  
  
"Call me the Guardian. I protect the people of this world. Unfortunately, I don't have the power to protect them anymore," she said sadly. She started to fade into the rising mist. "That's why you and your friends must help me. If you don't, both our worlds will be destroyed."  
  
"How can we help? What can we do?" I called into the mist, as she vanished, but the mist swallowed up any reply she might have made.  
  
  
  
I woke up, breathing hard. It was just a dream, I thought, but what if it was real? What if what the Guardian said was true? I chuckled, How can it be true? This is what I get for watching that scary movie marathon with the girls and trying Usagi's dip. I'll go back to sleep and forget about this. I looked over at Rei, who was sound asleep. Shaking my head, I thought, What's going on? Am I going crazy or am I just hallucinating?  
  
  
  
Across town  
  
Darien woke with a start, scared by the dream he'd had. Could it mean that we're being tested again, he thought, or is this a new evil for us to face? What does it mean?  
  
  
  
Meanwhile.  
  
The Guardian opened her eyes, peered at the sky, and sighed. "Are you sure there's no other way, Lena? Are you sure that they're the ones who will help us fight Comoro?"  
  
"I'm positive," Lena replied from her bench.  
  
"They didn't believe me."  
  
"They will," Lena said calmly, looking up from her embroidery. "They have to. If they want to save the people they care about, they'll have to."  
  
(AN: Lena is the only other person who hasn't fallen under Comoro's control.) 


	3. untitled

01: untitled  
  
I woke up late that morning. I must've overslept because of the dream I'd had, I thought as I got washed. I braided my hair, then pulled back into a bun, which was held in place by two fake daggers. I pulled a clean T-shirt and a pair of pants from my bag and put them on. I slipped into my soft- shoes and went to the dining room.  
  
"Morning, sleepy-head," said Rei from the table. "Do you always sleep this late, Kieren?"  
  
"Not really," I replied with a yawn. I sat down across from Rae. "I had a really weird and spooky dream last night. It kept me up for a while. I think it was caused by the scary movie marathon from last night and probably the dip we had."  
  
"Would you describe it for me? I might be able to figure out what it means," she said. I quickly described-and edited- my dream. After some deliberation, she said, "Í can't figure it out. It makes no sense to me."  
  
"It's okay. I wasn't all that interested in what it meant."  
  
"C'mon, I want to show you the rest of the temple," Rae said. For the next couple of hours, she showed me the temple. It was really interesting. She showed me around the grounds (which were really pretty) and showed me her meditation room with the Great Fire.  
  
Later that morning, I was hanging out in Rae's room, vegging. This place is so peaceful, I thought, I could learn to like it. It is more relaxed and peaceful than my temple. Something new always happens there. I grinned as I remembered the guys and the trouble that they always seemed to get into when they played around at my temple.  
  
Rei walked in and said, "There are a couple of guys here to see you, Ren."  
  
"Are they cute?" I asked with a grin. Rei smiled and answered with a nod and a silent whistle. I laughed. "Did they introduce themselves or are they secret admirers here to serenade me?"  
  
"They introduced themselves as your tenants and returning champions."  
  
"They're back!" I exclaimed in delight, as she finished speaking. I raced out of the room, with Rei hot on my heels wearing a confused expression on her face. I ran straight to my friends, who were standing in the courtyard of the temple. They smiled as they saw me run towards them. The guys started to laugh as I hugged them.  
  
"Miss us did you?" laughed Ryo, as I hugged him.  
  
"To tell the truth, it was quiet and lonely at my place," I replied, as Rowen put his arm around my shoulder. They laughed. "I got used to having the five of you there every day and having to replace a window almost as often." They grinned sheepishly. When all of us would play soccer behind my house, one of them would always kick to hard and the ball would hit one of the windows, breaking it.  
  
"So how was the tournament, fellas?" I asked. A couple of weeks ago, they'd seemed restless, so I told them of a martial arts tournament I'd heard of from a friend of mine. I suggested that they go and represent my dojo at the tournament. They jumped at the idea. They had left about two weeks ago. I had forgotten that they would be returning today when I'd accepted Rei's invitation to spend the night.  
  
"It was a blast!" Kento exclaimed. Rowen and the others groaned. Kento just grinned. I shook my head, laughing. Kento was always happiest when he was fighting or eating.  
  
"We came in first in all divisions," said Sage, as they beamed with pride. "We left the trophies at your place."  
  
"Great! Let's go to a nice restaurant for lunch," I said, then added, "My treat."  
  
"We'll pay," Cye said. "I mean, it's one way to repay you for giving us the idea to go."  
  
"Kieren, would you mind introducing me to your friends?" asked Rei from behind the commotion. She looked at the guys curiously, as if she'd seen them before.  
  
"Pardon my manners, Rei," I said. "From left to right are: Ryo, Rowen, Kento, Sage, and Cye," then added, "Answer me this, guys, how did you find me here? I didn't leave a note or anything."  
  
"We ran into Darien, who told us about Rei's invitation," Ryo said, "and was nice enough to give us directions to this place. If you want to go out for lunch with us to celebrate, you'd better hurry. That way you can get changed and we'll still get a table."  
  
Rei said, "I'll help you get your stuff."  
  
I followed her back to her room, where we proceeded to gather my clothes together.  
  
"You guys seem really close to one another," Rei said. "How long have you known them?"  
  
"Years, Rae," I replied with a smile, "although it feels like we've known each other a lot longer than that. I've known Rowen the longest."  
  
"Really?" she asked. "How did the two of you meet?"  
  
"He was my next door neighbor in Toyama. My grandfather ran a dojo there, and Rowen joined. After my father died when I was seven, we moved here, and the two of us wrote to each other. Shortly before I started high school, we moved back to our house in Toyama. I met the others there. After I graduated, I moved back here. Occasionally, we'd visit each other."  
  
"Wow," Rei said.  
  
"Several months ago, I got a call from Rowen. He told me that the place where they'd been staying in Toyama had been destroyed by the hurricane and that they had no where to stay. I foolishly invited them to stay at my place since I had plenty of room. I should have remembered a couple of things."  
  
"Like what?" Rei asked  
  
"For starters, the guys are into sports and just about every time they play in the back, they break a window. I've had to replace all of the downstairs windows at least twice so far. It's getting to be expensive," I said with a sigh. Rei laughed. "Then, there's the fact that Rowen can't cook and he is more likely to set my kitchen on fire than anyone else. One time, I had to chase him out of the kitchen with a frying pan before he got the point that only Cye and I are allowed in there to cook."  
  
We had finished getting my stuff and had walked back outside. The guys were waiting by the Ford Expedition that I owned (it was the only thing big enough for all of us). We said good-bye and got in the truck. We left the temple and headed for my place. I yawned, and silently prayed for a peaceful rest that night.  
  
"Tired, Ren?" Sage asked, quickly glancing back from the driver's seat. "How late did you stay up?"  
  
"Not that late, Sage," I replied, stifling another yawn. "Rei's friends came over and we watched a couple scary movies."  
  
"I didn't know you were afraid of stuff like that," Kento observed from the front seat.  
  
"Try anything funny, buster," I said, raising my fist in mock anger, "and I will personally take great pleasure in getting revenge."  
  
"Ouch," commented Rowen. Since Rowen had known me the longest, he knew better than to play jokes on me. Ryo and the others didn't know that, so they learned the hard way not to play pranks on me. Yet, after several lessons in why not to play jokes on me, they still did it.  
  
"I'm not afraid of scary movies," I said, yawning again. "I had a really spooky dream last night that kept me up." I described my dream in full detail to them.  
  
"I had a similar dream," Ryo said from behind me, resting his arms on the seat back to talk with us. "In fact, we all had a dream like that. We figured that's what we get for eating airline burritos. We don't know what it means."  
  
"Neither do I," I replied, gazing out the window of the truck, "and I don't like it."  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Rei had just finished cleaning up from breakfast, when she heard the others start moving around. Makoto walked into the room with the others and asked where Kieren was. Rei replied that several friends of hers had come to pick her up.  
  
"What did they look like?" asked Mina curiously. "Were they cute?"  
  
"They were," replied Rei. Mina smiled speculatively, and Rei added, "Don't get any ideas, Mina. They seemed very attached to her."  
  
"Who were they?" asked Ami.  
  
"They were a couple of guys she knew that were staying with her until their place is fixed," Rei said. Yawning, Usagi asked if anyone had had a strange dream during the night. When she had finished describing her dream, the others agreed that they had similar dreams. Rei mentioned that Kieren had told her about a very similar dream, but had said that it was probably caused by the movies and Usagi's dip. They laughed as Usagi pouted over the comment. They wondered if it had been a vision or a product of the movie marathon. 


	4. The Beginning of Trouble or Party Prep...

02: The Beginning of Trouble Or Party Preparations  
  
  
  
As I was helping Cye prepare breakfast the next morning, I thought about how to thank Rei for inviting me over for the night. I wondered about asking her and her friends to come for lunch tomorrow.  
  
"You do like these girls, don't you?" asked Cye, when I realized that I had been musing aloud. "I really don't think you want to scare them by asking them to come over."  
  
"You have a point," I admitted, remembering that Kento was a bottomless pit and, more often than not, one or more of them would act like a little kid. "There's got to be some way to have them over and not scare them off."  
  
"Tell everyone to be on their best behavior. Invite Yuli over and they'll really behave," Cye suggested as we put everything in the oven to keep it warm. It would be another thirty to forty minutes before the rest of the guys got up. They never got up before eight o'clock.  
  
"That just might work. Thanks, Cye!" I called as I ran to my room to make a few calls. About half an hour later, I came back down. I walked to the dining room and announced, "Guys, tomorrow afternoon, my friends are coming over for lunch. Yuli is coming too."  
  
"You're nuts!" exclaimed Ryo. "Do you want them to be scared off by us?"  
  
"That's why Yuli's coming, Ryo," I explained patiently. Mia sat there watching us, and I could see she was enjoying it. The Warlords just sat there. "You guys behave better when he's over."  
  
"She has a point, fellas," Sage said.  
  
"Thank you, Sage," I said. "Since we're going to have company tomorrow, we will spend today cleaning this place. That includes your rooms, guys." They groaned as I continued, "I expect you to pick up your junk and put it away neatly, dust your shelves and dressers, and run the vacuum. After that, you can help me straighten up down here."  
  
"Why us?" asked Kento. "Why do we have to help?"  
  
"You guys do live here," I said with a little exasperation. "Do you deny that your stuff is all over this house?"  
  
"No," they said in unison.  
  
"Do you deny the fact that more often than not, one of you is the cause of the messes around here?" I asked. They said no.  
  
"Well then, that's why you have to help clean up."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"We'll start after breakfast. First, like I said, you will clean your rooms; then we'll work on the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen. After that, we should do the backyard."  
  
"All right, all right," they grumbled as they finished eating.  
  
  
  
The rest of the day was spent cleaning. Several times I had to remind them to do what they were supposed to, but otherwise all went well. We even had time to do the backyard. Naotoki mowed the lawn, while Rowen and I weeded my garden and the others picked up the junk, sticks, and assorted balls that were lying around the yard. During dinner (we had ordered pizza-no one had enough energy to cook), we planned the menu. Sage said he would grill some burgers, and Cye and I had agreed to do the bulk of the food preparation, as well as make some veggie platters, salads, and dip. Rowen was forbidden to enter the kitchen, so he said that he'd go shopping for chips and drinks and whatever else we might need. Kento and Ryo said they'd make a dessert.  
  
  
  
When I went to bed, I was exhausted, but I was excited too. Finally, the two groups of my friends would actually meet, and possibly become friends. As I fell asleep, I kept thinking that tomorrow would be a beautiful day. Unfortunately, those thoughts did not keep the spooky dream at bay, and, if anything, it was worse. 


	5. Here Comes Trouble

03: Here Comes Trouble  
  
  
  
The next morning dawned bright and clear. After going through my usual morning exercises, I went downstairs to prepare a light breakfast for the guys. My only question is how do I prevent Usagi and Kento from eating everything? I thought with a grin. Kento is known as the Bottomless Pit, and Usagi has the biggest appetite of all the girls.  
  
"Whatcha thinking, Ren?" yawned Cye as he walked into the kitchen.  
  
"I'm trying to find ways to keep Kento and Usagi- who has an appetite almost as big as Kento's- from eating everything," I said with a sigh. Cye smiled, and took over cooking breakfast while I set the table. "Unfortunately, I haven't come up with one good idea yet."  
  
"Oh, no," groaned Cye, as he pictured what might happen. "It's a good thing that we're preparing so much food then. There's no way that those two can eat everything."  
  
"I don't know, Cye," I said, as I finished setting the table. "I'll think of something later. Preferably after I get some coffee to help me think straight."  
  
"I don't know how you drink that stuff," he said disgustedly. "You do realize that it stunts your growth."  
  
"That's not a problem, Cye," I said coming into the kitchen to start a pot. "I'm easily several inches taller than whoever happens to be the tallest, so I've got no problems there."  
  
While we argued about the pros and cons of coffee, the rest of the guys came down. Mia followed them, looking more awake and alive than they did. They sat down at the table and began to eat. I looked at Cye and Mia, who had come in to get some coffee, and whispered, "Morning of the Living Dead."  
  
"No argument there," he replied, as we joined them. "You forgot that they're not morning people."  
  
"Were they ever morning people to begin with is the question," Mia said.  
  
"I just hope that Kento saved us some breakfast. It's going to be a while before lunch," I said as I reached for the bowl.  
  
  
  
After they had cleaned up from breakfast, we went upstairs to get washed, or in the guys case, to become more human. An hour later, we were preparing for the party. Cye and I were in the kitchen, cooking and preparing trays of veggies and dips. Rowen was out shopping, getting soda and chips. Ryo and Kento were preparing an easy dessert from a recipe and very specific directions I'd given them.  
  
  
  
Several hours later, around eleven, most of the food was prepared. All we had left to prepare were the burgers Sage was going to grill. We had just started to put it on the tables outside, and Sage was starting the grill when Yuli showed up. He started running back and forth, doing odd jobs and generally being his exuberant and hyper self. A few minutes later, the girls and Darien came into the yard. Soon after they arrived, another car pulled up. My eyes widened and I began to curse in several languages as I recognized it. Everyone looked at me, confused by my outburst- at least until they saw who got out.  
  
"What are you three doing here?" I growled as the Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten strolled into the backyard.  
  
"Usagi told us about this little get together," Seiya said, "and she invited us to come."  
  
"Fine," I sighed. After introducing everyone, I went inside to bring out the veggie trays and burgers.  
  
  
  
As Sage started to grill the burgers, Cye and Mako were comparing recipes and cooking secrets. Kento was showing off for Mina and Rei. Rowen was playing soccer with Ryo and Darien and me, while Ami, Usagi, and the rest watched. After a while, Sage yelled that the burgers were done, and everyone eagerly crowded around. While we ate, Usagi asked me how I knew Seiya and the others.  
  
"A couple of months, they got mobbed by their fans while walking through the neighborhood," I said. "To escape the mob, they ducked in here. No one here was impressed by them, and I made sure to deflate their oversized egos." The three guys pouted and Taiki said, "We asked if we could hang out here when we needed a vacation."  
  
"More like begged on your knees," Sasaki snorted. "Those three pleaded and whined until Kieren agreed just to get them to shut up."  
  
"Since then, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten drop by for a couple days once a month," I said, glaring at them, "usually without notice."  
  
After we'd eaten, and the dishes had been brought in, I brought out my boom box and put on a tape of dance music. The girls partnered up with one of the guys and we all danced. Everyone was having fun, and surprisingly Usagi and Kento hadn't eaten everything on the platters. Even the four- legged partygoers seemed to have fun. We were relaxing and having a good time. That's when things started to go downhill.  
  
"What's that?" asked Rini, pointing to something in the sky. We all looked up, and there was a white orb racing towards us.  
  
"I don't know, Rini," I said, as my lupine (wolf) companions pressed against my leg, "but I think it's time we went inside." We began to run towards the house, but before we could get there, the orb landed in front of us. It began to glow, and then it was like the whole world faded into a white mist.  
  
"What's going on?" Usagi shouted. "What's happening?''  
  
"I don't know," I replied, as the orb rose and began flying to wherever its destination was. "It's my guess that we're inside the bubble, and we seem to be moving faster."  
  
"Where are we headed?" asked Toshitada.  
  
"I don't know," I said, as I watched the city shrink, then disappear. "I don't know."  
  
"Anybody see Rini or Yuli?" asked Usagi. Several shouts of no came back.  
  
"Headcount!" Ryo shouted, trying to see through the mist. "All those here, shout you name!"  
  
"The Three Lights," Taiki called out. "As well as Usagi, Kieren, and Hotaru."  
  
"Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna," Michi called out. "Yuli and Rini are with us."  
  
"Mako, Rei, Ami, Mina, Cye, Sage, Kento, Rowen, Toshi, Saki, Toki, and Kuro," they shouted.  
  
"All present and accounted for except Darien and Mia," I said, then thought, Hmm, just the warriors. Why?  
  
It seemed like we were flying for a long time, but we began to slow down. I looked out the side of the bubble and saw a landscape that I didn't recognize. Where are we? I thought.  
  
"Look!" Sage exclaimed. He pointed to a castle that was far away. "I bet that's where we're going."  
  
Just then, the orb began to shake. I looked around and saw that black lightning was hitting the orb.  
  
"We're under attack!" I shouted over the noise.  
  
"Who's doing the attacking?" shouted someone above the horrendous crashing. I could see cracks form in the orb, and then it split into several smaller balls. We fell, getting separated on the way down. 


	6. Partners in Peril

04: Partners in Peril  
  
  
  
I woke up in a world of white stuff. I sat up and shook my head to clear my senses. When I looked at my surroundings, I realized that the white stuff was snow. I had landed on a mountain, but I couldn't see the others. At first I thought that it was because of the snowstorm, but then I realized that the others weren't here. I got up and took a more detailed look at my surroundings. I saw that I was in a forest of huge trees.  
  
Suddenly I was bowled over and my wolfy friends began to lick me enthusiastically. I pushed them off and got up again to look for the others. That's when I noticed a volcano not that far away. Ryo's armor is the Wildfire, so he's probably at the volcano, I thought, and Rei is probably going to be with him. I should start looking at the volcano. Finding the others won't be as easy, though.  
  
Rowen woke to the sound of screaming. He got up quickly, and ran towards the source of the screams. He saw a young girl sitting on the ground, being attacked by flying bugs. A black cat was trying to swat some away, but it wasn't working. He walked over and brushed them away.  
  
"You're afraid of bugs, Usagi?" he asked, recognizing her once he'd gotten close enough to see her face.  
  
"Not really," she said, as he helped her up. "They just startled me, that's all."  
  
"Have you seen anyone else?" he asked, taking a quick glance around.  
  
"No. You're the first person I've seen so far," Usagi said, picking up her cat. "Where is everybody, Rowen? Where's Kieren, Rini, and the girls?"  
  
"I don't know, Usagi," he replied.  
  
"We should look for them, but where do we start?"  
  
"I don't know, Usagi," Rowen said. Just then, a swarm of huge bug- like creatures appeared from out of nowhere. They attacked Usagi and Rowen. Luna, the black cat, shouted, "Transform, Usagi!"  
  
"Silver Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!" Serena shouted. In a flash of pink light and hearts, she became Sailor Moon. By then, Rowen had called his armor and was bashing the bugs on the head and turning them into pincushions.  
  
"Rowen, duck!" Sailor Moon cried, and while he ducked, shouted, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" obliterating several of the bugs. Rowen stood there in amazement. He shouted, "Sailor Moon, behind you! Arrow Shock Wave!" His arrow sped past her and disintegrated a bug that had been ready to attack her. She flashed a grateful smile, and helped him destroy the rest of the bugs.  
  
"Since when do you have armor, Rowen?" Usagi asked as they returned to their everyday clothes.  
  
"Well, the cat's out of the bag now, so I'll tell you the truth," Rowen said. "The guys and I are the Ronin Warriors." He then gave a brief history of what had happened, and the Usagi told him about the Scouts.  
  
"Back to my original question, how do we find the others?" she asked.  
  
"Let's follow the tunnel and see where it leads," he suggested. They began to walk down the tunnel, quietly chatting away. Neither one noticed a shadow detach itself from the wall and follow them. 


End file.
